State v. Frederick

Citations

• 989 N.W.2d 504
• 2023 ND 77

Syllabus

In the instance of an alleged public trial violation, an appellant must demonstrate the public was excluded from a proceeding taking place during trial, and that the proceeding was substantive in nature. A district court closing a proceeding to the public is significantly different from the court failing to make an adequate record of a bench conference conducted in an open trial. An inadequate record is not equivalent to a closed trial. To demonstrate that an inadequate record affects a defendant's substantial rights, the defendant must demonstrate the record cannot be adequately supplemented or reconstructed. A violation of Appendix 1, Standard 7(d), N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 9 is not per se reversible error.